The Taken Ones: A Novel (Steinbeck and Reed)

In the summer of 1980, three girls went into the Minnesota woods and only one came out. Rue didn’t speak for weeks and doesn’t remember what happened. Her friend, Amber, and little sister, Lily, became The Taken Ones that day.

Forty-two years later, cold case detective Evangeline Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are called to the homicide of a woman buried alive. Evidence suggests she’s one of the missing girls. Van and Harry reopen the cold case to bring justice to these girls and hope to find the other one alive. Both Harry and Van have their own secrets that might tear them apart as they work together to solve the case.

There were so many things I loved about this book. Harry and Van were great characters. This book focused more on Van, so I hope that the next will focus more on Harry. There were some super creepy moments in this book, involving both the killer and Frank from Van’s past. The blend of Harry’s fact-finding and Van’s hunches/visions was perfect. The cliffhanger at the end leaves you longing for the next book in the series. If you love murder mysteries and police procedurals, read this book.